Last year, Kamena Rally Team decided to try a different baja from what they were used to when they entered the Baja 1000. After becoming the first Polish team to complete the legendary desert race, they’ll be back in 2025 with some reinforcements in Wataha Racing Team.

The combined effort will consist of three drivers and two navigators. Tomasz Białkowski will open the race with Dariusz Baśkiewicz as his co-driver, followed by Mateusz Matczak taking over driving duties with Tadeusz Białkowski by his side. Ernest Kuś then drives the final stint alongside Baśkiewicz.

Kamena Rally Team won the 2024 FIA European Baja Cup in the SSV class, with Tomasz Białkowski taking the drivers’ title and Baśkiewicz the navigators’. After the season, the team went to Mexico to try out the Baja 1000 for the first time. Although cross-country bajas take their name from desert racing, it is based on rally raid rather than the product seen in SCORE.

Competing in Pro UTV Forced Induction, Białkowski and Baśkiewicz finished tenth in class. Racing a borrowed Can-Am Maverick, they were the last car in their category to reach the finish.

Kuś explained at a press conference on Monday that the team had spotted a Facebook ad from Kamena looking for people to race the Baja 1000 together. While a “complete coincidence” that he came across the posting, it was a project he wanted to undertake so he and Matczak got in touch.

Wataha Racing Team competes in the Rajdowe Mistrzostwa Polski Samochodów Terenowych, Poland’s national cross-country rally series. Matczak won the latest event at the Baja Czarne in June.

Unlike in 2024, Kamena and Wataha will build their own UTV for the race. The former has also not ruled out using their cross-country Maverick with modifications.

“We’re definitely facing a very difficult road through terrain that commands respect,” said Matczak. “Probaly unprecedented conditions for us on a European scale. Extremely difficult terrain in Mexico.

“But we look at it as a challenge that we must face. It’ll be difficult and will certainly require patience and prudence. We wonm’t be going at 100% rally pace there. We just need to get the car to the finish first. A lot will depend on finding the right pace, one that won’t be slow but will also allow us to reach the finish without any mishaps. Every error, every breakdown is a waste of precious time, and sometimes it’s better to ride more cautiously.”

After the Baja 1000 in November, Kamena plans to race the Dakar Rally in 2026.

Featured image credit: Kamena Rally Team